Thief in the Night - The Story of Raelyn
by codybeatty58
Summary: Raelyn is a wood elf thief with a storied past that begins in Bravil moves to the Imperial City, and truly begins when he attempts to move to Skyrim. He finds himself in the port of Dawnstar with only his skills as a thief and an alchemist.


Raelyn was born on the seventeenth of Morning Star in the one-hundred and eighty-third year of the fourth era. He was born to wood elf parents. Lariin and Alia. He was delivered in the bedroom of their little cottage just outside the walls of Bravil. His mother died giving birth to him. His father raised him as best he could, teaching him how to wield a bow, move unseen, and how to mix potions and poisons. One day when Raelyn was six he came home from a hunt to find his father had been murdered be mercenaries hired by one of the local loan sharks. Since no one under the age of sixteen is permitted to own land Raelyn became homeless. He begged on the streets of Bravil for two years before he could afford to make the trip to the Imperial City. When he arrived he found work as a forge masters assistant. His orcish master didn't take to having a wood elf for an assistant to kindly. He worked Raelyn to the bone. Then when an orcish boy wanted to learn to be a blacksmith he discarded Raelyn. After being fired from the forge Raelyn couldn't find work so naturally he drifted down to the Waterfront district with the thieves of the Imperial City. He quickly picked up pickpocketing and lockpicking. Finally when he was seventeen he tried to gain admittance into the Thieves Guild. The guild was already to full, and it was to prestigious for the likes of a common thief. So for a year Raelyn saved every coin he could from stealing and fencing items. Finally at the age of eighteen he set out on a boat from the port of Bravil headed for Solitude in Skyrim. He wanted to go there because he had heard of the legendary Thieves Guild that resided there. Raelyn found the boat ride quite pleasant until the storm hit. The waves tossed the boat about as if it were a mere toy. The boat capsized and began to sink. But Nocturnal wasn't done with the boy yet. Raelyn awoke to find all the other passengers dead. He gathered everything he could from the wrecked ship before making his way out. From the top of the wreckage he could see land. Off in the distance he could make out the shape of a tower. He looked all around the boat. It was being held up by an ice berg but the it was slowly tipping into the water. He jumped into the water and began to swim for land. The water was freezing and at first he began to seize up from the cold but after a while of swimming he could no longer feel any of his extremities. There was a tent and a fire where he came ashore. Raelyn quickly stripped down and started exercising to get his heart rate up before laying down to get warm. He slipped into unconsciousness for the second time that day. What woke him was the sound of scurrying across the ground. He quickly jumped up and looked around coming at him fast was a mud crab. Although it was just a crab their pincers were powerful enough to take his whole leg if he wasn't careful. He picked up a dagger he found lying in the tent to defend himself. The crab lashed out with its big claws, Raelyn narrowly dodged it. He then proceeded to jump and land on top of the crab attempting to penetrate its shell with his dagger. After three shots to the shell in a row it finally cracked and the dagger sank to the hilt. The mud crab sank to the ground defeated. Raelyn dismounted and moved to where he had lain his clothes on the ground. He put his clothes on and stuck the dagger in his belt. After searching the campsite a little farther he found some healing potions and some ingredients. He took down the tent and used it as a kind a backpack for his supplies. He didn't know how far it was from here to the nearest town, and even if he made it to a town soon he would have no money for a room for a while. Surveying the land around him, Raelyn noticed a burning pyre meant to help bring ships into port. He must be close to a city then. He climbed towards the pyre in order to get a better view. It didn't take him long to reach the pyre and upon reaching it he immediately noticed a small village not to far off. It took him five minutes or so to get to the village. Upon a cursory inspection there wasn't much in the way of shops, from what he could tell there was a blacksmiths, a museum, and an alchemist's shop. There were also a couple of mines on opposite sides of the town, and an Inn towards the road leading into the town. Raelyn decided that his best bet was to look for work at the blacksmiths of the alchemist's shop. He wasn't cut out for the back breaking work of the mines. Rustleif couldn't hire him for lack of income, but Frida said she would take him on. The following day he would begin his work, but for tonight he would make camp near the entry road. A Khajiit caravan setup next to him. He spent the better part of the night talking to one of the caravaners about what they had seen out there in the wilderness, and also acquired a map from them. He found out he was in the northern most city in all of Skyrim, Dawnstar. He awoke early the next morning and headed for the shop. Frida sent him out to fetch ingredients for her potions. Raelyn spent all day scouring the hillsides around the village searching for all the ingredients she had requested. As a wood elf he felt most at home in nature , but this harsh unforgiving cold took its toll on him. By the time he got to his bed that night he was exhausted. He got up early again the next morning and prepared a few potions of his own to show Frida. Frida was surprised at the potency of his potions and poisons. Not many could make such fine potions at his age, not even wood elves. Over the next couple of weeks she had him fetching ingredients and making potions. Raelyn eventually moved into the Windpeak Inn. He also eventually grew bored. While having a job was nice he was also a thrill seeker, and what was more thrilling than stealing something and then walking around without anyone knowing it was you who stole it? He managed to fashion a lockpick out of a metal spoon he found lying around the Inn. While everyone slept that night, he clung to the shadows. Sneaking around guards and houses. Of course in a village this small it didn't take him long to make it to Beitild's house. She owned the Iron-Breaker mine, and she was also the richest in the town. With deft hands Raelyn quickly had the lock open. He cracked the door and listened. He could hear the sound of snoring. He quickly stepped inside and closed the door. Beitild rolled over in her sleep as the cold brushed over her. Raelyn stood still hoping she wouldn't wake up. For being the richest person in the whole town Beitild's house was pretty bare. There was a shelf, table, bed, and a chest. Sitting on the middle shelf there was a strongbox. He slowly creeped over to the strongbox paying special attention to which floor board creaked and which ones where silent. It took him some time of fiddling with the lock on the strongbox before he was able to finally open it. Inside there were some gems a ruby, some diamonds, and one single flawless emerald. It also contained about 200 gold. Raelyn lined his pockets and the moved towards the door. He peered out, and when he was satisfied there were no guards about, he left. The Inn was silent as everyone even the bartender were asleep in their beds. Raelyn entered his room, and let out a sigh of relief. Now came the tricky part, he had to figure out where to hide his ill-gotten goods. He felt around the wall for a loose board. Mustering as much strength as he could he pried the board from the wall, and stashed a strongbox containing the gems and gold in the wall, and the proceeded to put the board back in place. Luckily it was his day off tomorrow so it wouldn't look suspicious when he didn't show up for work. The sound of banging on his door was the first thing Raelyn heard in the morning. He quickly jumped out of bed and moved towards the door, and opened it. Standing in the Inn were two guards in their armor. They asked Raelyn if he knew anything about the break-in at Beitild's house. They then promptly searched his room and declared he was not the thief. Once they had left Raelyn let out another sigh of relief. They hadn't found the secret hiding place in the wall. He had just committed his first burglary in this new land.


End file.
